Adjustable hat



March 2071928.

P. A. FISCHER ADJUSTABLE HAT Filed Nov. 25. 1922. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 20, 1928.

1,663,124 F. A. FISCHER ADJUSTABLE HAT Filed Nov. 25. 19 22 a Sheets-Sheet 2 fizizi wzjm'hw 1 om ui wrfigkww Patented Mar. 20, 1928.

1' PHILIP -.A.- FISCHER,

OF"NEW YORK, N. Y.

ADJUSTABLE HAT.

Application-filed November 25, i922. Serial No. 603,175.

This invention isan adjustable hat, that is to say,.a hat the headsize of which may be varied so that itwill comfortably fit any average sized head.

AlliilwWlth a variablehead size presents 1 several advantages. From the manufacturing point of view,.itisdifficult to predict justhow many hats to make of a given size; from the retailers point of View, it is difficult to tell just how many hats of a given size shouldbe laid in stock. These two problems are practically solved-by a hat with-a variable head size, because onlyzone size need be manufactured or put in stock. Again, from. the manufacturers point of view, aidilferent setiof, patterns is. required Qfor each .hat of a, given size ;with this invention,,one,patte rn.will suffice, whereby: the; imanufacturing [cost .is very I appreciably llo'wered. I

i "From the point .of view .of. the individual wearer, he can always :makehis hat to fit exactlyp-the. way: he .wants it to: fit .he can 'make it fit tightly to prevent its blowing off in case ofstretchingor shrinkage, i-table adjustment may. .bermade to, compensate for r .such changes; I .The broad 'deaaofhead-gear wrth ad ustable headsizes isnot a new. .one.;. I have myself. taken "outr'two patents, No. 1,333,708, I granted (March 16,. 1920,,and. :No. 1,337,397,

granted Aprilf20, ;1920,:on raps .with {adis known. .as accordion pleats, and. are formed in the hat or cap in suitable apparatus,'such I as appropriately shaped @dies,;with ;heatand pressure, so that thematerialis very strongly" and ,,perm anently creased. That. part subjectedfto the pleating ,may be specially I treated to, aid it in holding thefpleatedform.

' 'Inthe preferredform of the invention,

the Ipleats exten'd from substantially the crown of the hat downwardly and outholding the pleats'in any desired 1 state ofwardly, through thebrim, gradually increasing in -size meanwhile.

Means engageable with the, hat on opposite sides of the I pleats, are provided for contraction, or expansion, according tothe head size desired In. one form of the inx the creases. I

vention,-a strap is used which engages-with the hat through two slots and is then bent around the pleats; the endsof the strap are adjust-ably secured together. In another form ofthe invention, a band, preferably the hat band itself, is used, ,which. engages with thehatiby being sewed thereto as usual; the two ends of the hat band are adjustably secured together.

The invention willbe descrlbed more specifically by referenceto the accompanying it out. It should be understood however, that these drawings are purely illustrative, and that the broader features of the invention may be carried out in other ways.

Referring now to these drawings:

.Fig. 1 is aside view of ah t, according tothis invention; Fig; 2 is a.view-of the hat frombelowpFig. 3 is a view of an orna -mental .deviceas applied; Fig. 4 shows amodified-form of adjusting strapp-Fi'gQ 5 is a section on the line 55 of/Fig- 2; Figs.

6, 7, 8 and 9 are detached views showing several ways of, varying the effective length ofamodifiedform of hat; 'F-ig. ll is a similar view, w ith. the parts in diiferent positions;.Figs. 12, 18, 14C, 15 and 1 6 show vari .ous means-for adjustably securing the. ends ofwthe adjusting straps together; Figs. .17

v and'18 are front and side views, respectively,

showing the inyention as applied toga cap;

Fig. 19 shows a modificationzofthe sweat :band; and Fig. -20.is:adiagrammaticltop view ofv another. modification. I

:Referrlng now to these drawings, s milar :reference characters will be used toindicate similar parts- The hat comprises a crown 5'and. a brim 6; starting in: the crown and 'extending downwardly and outwardly in thec'rowniand outto the edge of the brim,

is aplurality of permanently formed creases,

pleats or-corrugations 7, of thewnature of iaccordion pleats. These pleats 7 gradually increase in size toward the'edgegof the .brim.

The pleats arepressed into. the hat during -.manufacture by any desired sort ofapparatus, with wheat and pressure, preferably; the material of thehat may be specially treated so that itwill permanently retain .In order to hold the pleats any desired state of expansion or contraction,anadjust- -ingstrap-8 is used; this strap engages with the crown of vthehat throughtwo slots :9

drawings, showing several-ways. of carrylng I of the adjustingcordiFig. 1O isa side view on opposite sides of the pleats 7, and its ends are adjustably secured together in any desired manner, such as the well-known ball and socket fasteners, one end of the strap being provided with the socket elements 11 and the other end with the ball element 12. An ornamental device 13, arranged vertically or horizontally, as desired, is carried by the strap 8.

The sweat band 14 is cut away adjacent the pleats, as shown in Fig. 2; however, the strap 8 is between the pleats and the head of the wearer, so that the edges of the pleats willnot be uncomfortable against the head of the wearer.

As shown in Fig. 2, another set of pleats 7' may be put in theother side of the hat,

justing strap. The strap, indicated at 8',

performs the functions of the strap 8, and. has its ends adjustably secured together by the button 15 and buttonholes 16.

Fig. 5 shows a modification of the sweat band, where this band is creased or pleated in the same manner as are the pleats 7. This pleated partof thesweat band is indicated at 14", and the two sets of pleats fit together, as shown. These two sets of creases may be simultaneously pressed into the sweat band and into the body of the hat. With this construction, as. shown in Fig. 5, the slots 9 pass through both the hat andthe sweat band, and the strap pleats 7 and 14 and thehead of the'wearer. In Fig. 6, the two ends of the strap 8 are looped, and through the loops is passed a cord 17, on the ends of which are spring clamps 18, whereby the length of the cord 17 may be varied, for varying the effective length of the strap 8. Fig. 7 shows a slightly different device for the same purpose, the cord 17 passing through a hole 19' in the strap and having a spring clamp 21on both ends.

The other end is not shown. Fig. 8 shows still another way of varying the length of the. cord 17; The cord passes through a friction slide piece 22, through an eye 23, which is attached to an. end of the "strap'8 and back to thepiece 22 to which it is attached. 1

Fig. 9 shows a further method for varying the effective length of the cord 17. In this modification, the cord is passed through a hole 19 in the member 8 and is then tied to a tubular slide piece 24 through which the cord 17 is threaded with a friction fit, the friction being sufiicient to keep it in the desired position on the cord.

v In the modified form of hat shown in Fig.

i 10, thevadjusting strap is the hat band itself,

indicated at 25. It of course engages with the hat on opposite sides of the pleats by being sewed thereto. The ends of the hat "Mam. Y 7 i V 8. is between the band are adjustably secured together in any desired manner. For example, a buckle 26 maybe carried by one end of the band, which adjustably engageswith the other end of the band, as shown in Fig. 11. The buckle 26 preferably overlies the pleats 7. As indicated in Fig. 11, the hat brim may be turned up or down, as desired. Furthermore, the pleats may be concealed in any manner, as by the ornamental piece 20, attached. to the hat so as to permit the expansion and contraction 'of-the pleats underneath it; as shown, the covering piece 20 is attached to the hat at two points, as by the ornamental button 20 and by stitches 20". The covering piece may cover part or all of the pleats 7, as desired;

Referring to Fig. 19, in order to protect In order to keep the pleats 7 in proper 1 relative position, so that they will fold and unfold readily, the pleats mayv be provided with a plurality of registering apertures 30; through these apertures passes a uide element 30 of cloth or metal of sufiicient stiffness properly to guide the pleats 7 as they fold and unfold. 7

Figs. 17 and 18 show the inventionas applied to a cap the plates 7 exten'dwell up the side of the cap, but not as far into the crown as with the hat. Adjusting straps 27 extend from opposite sides of the cap toward each oth er,and have their ends adjustably secured together in any desired manner f Figs. 12-16, inclusive, show various ways for adjustably securing together 'theends of the strap 8, the band 25, or'the straps 27, as the case may be. p

In Fig. 12, one strap end has a hook28 adapted to hook over the elements 29 on the other end of the strap; in Figs. 13 and 14, one strap end carries an apertured element 31 into which the corrugated spring element 32 carried by the other strap end, engages.

.The element 32'is of spring steelbent' so that it tends to spring outwardly. In Fig. 15, the hook- 28engages with the buttonholes 33, and in Fig. 16, with eyelets 34.

The hat may have any desired number of sets of, pleats 7; four sets arediagrammatically indicated in Fig. 20. While the pleats preferably extend all the way to the edge of the brim, they may, if desired, be not extended that far, thus leaving the outer edge 'of-the'brim intact.

This disclosure is only illustrative, and

thereof, means engageable I claim as my invention 1. An adjustable hat of generally conventional design, having a few closely grouped, pleats in one side thereof, the pleats beginning in the crown of the hat and extending downwardly and outwardly into the brim of the hat the rest of the hat having the usual smooth outer surface, the pleats gradually widening toward the lower or brim end with the hat on opposite sides of the pleats for holding the pleats in various positions for varying the head size of the hat, and a covering member for concealing the pleats.

2. An adjustable hat of generally conventional design, one side of the hat having a few closely grouped, pleats therein, while the rest of the hat has the usual smooth outer surface, the-pleats beginning in the crown of the hat and extending downwardly and outwardly into the brim of the-hat, and means for adjustably holding the pleats in an expanded or contracted state for varying the head size of the hat.

8. An adjustable hat of generally conven tional design, having a few closely grouped, pleats in one side thereof, the rest of the hat having the usual smooth exterior surface, a hat band, means for adjustably securing the ends of the hat band together for variably positioning the pleats for varying the head size of the hat and a covering member for concealing the pleats.

4:. An adjustable hat of generally conventional design, having pleats extending from the crown downwardly and outwardly to the edge of the brim the rest of the hat having the usual smooth outer surface, a hat band, and means for adjust-ably securing the ends of the hat band together for variably positioning the pleats for varying the head size of the hat.

PHILIP A. Frscnua. 

